The Lost Princess of Atlantis
by Kathryn Angelle
Summary: I wrote this sometime between the ages of 10 and 12. I am no longer responsible for the quality; I have done no editing of any kind. I'm uploading it on a whim.


Author's Note: This was the first short story I ever completed: I don't recall exactly how old I was, but somewhere between 10 and 12. It has not been edited or changed in anyway since then.   
  
Tales from the Fireside: The Lost Princess of Atlantis  
by Charis Ellison  
  
  
Deep in a dark forest before a rotting hut an old woman sits before a fire, the harsh light casting weird shadows across her wrinkled face. For a time she stares into the flames, unmoving, as the they dance and flicker. Slowly she lifts her head, gray eyes piercing the darkness.   
"Now," she says, her voice harsh and scratchy, "now is the time, while the full moon rises." Standing, she suddenly seems regal, her voice captivating. Slowly she begins to speak, her voice weaving a spell with the flames and the wild light of her eyes...  
  
Avalon  
Once, far away, in the center of the ocean, there was an island. And long before man learned to build great cities and libraries in other lands, men came to this island and had great centers of learning and study, and they called it:   
Atlantis.   
  
Many years later, King Allen of Atlantis lost his wife and only son to fever, leaving his daughter, Elaine, as the only royal child and heir to the throne. As Elaine grew up, she learned to read and write, spending hours in the library at a time. When she got older, she learned to dance and sing, as well as play the harp with stunning skill for one so young. But, to her governess' disapproval, Elaine also insisted on learning the bow and horsemanship. Often she joined the knights and her father on the winter hunt, and spent many an hour exploring with Falcon, an orphaned wolf she had found as a cub and raised.   
On her nineteenth birthday, her father decided it was time for her to wed. He also chose to arrange it and give her no choice. After looking among the noble houses, he chose a young duke named Ferguson. Now, when he told Elaine, she was furious. For, you see, she had seen the side of Ferguson he had not. Elaine was extremely observant, and so she saw how unjust he was to his subjects, how cruel, and so had developed a healthy loathing for him. So, when she learned she was to wed him, a tyrant who didn't know the meaning of compassion, she was obviously upset. And that's were my story begins.   
  
"But I don't want to marry him!" Elaine cried, hurling the signed and sealed document across the room where it narrowly missed hitting a marble bust and was bent badly.   
"Well I'm afraid you don't have a choice," her father said, bending to pick up the document. Slipping of the ribbons, he unrolled it and began reading aloud what she'd already memorized. "The Princess Elaine is hereafter promised to..." Elaine stopped listening. How was she going to get out of this? Run away? Where to? And then it hit her. There was a large lake with a small island that had never been explored. It was perfect! Then she realized her father was still talking.   
"So you'd better get used to the idea!" he bellowed, then turned on his heel and left. Elaine kept her sulky expression until he was gone and then whirled around and started packing.   
  
That night a shadowy figure slipped through the palace halls. Stopping for a moment at the palace gates, the shadow waited until the guard change, then slipped past. Halting when she came to the woods, Elaine pushed back the hood of her forest green cloak and looked around quickly. The only movement she saw was a fox passing. Pushing back a few strands of dark hair from her face, she emitted a soft birdlike call. For a moment she waited, then one of the shadows underneath the trees detached and came toward her, taking the form of a wolf as it got closer.   
Kneeling down, Elaine stroked Falcons head, then rose and started of toward the tiny island she had secretly named: Avalon.   
  
King Allen roared, pacing back and forth in the throne room.   
"Your majesty, I'm sure she's just playing one of her tricks. She'll be back by tonight, you'll see." Koran, the royal adviser smiled tightly, wishing he was somewhere else. When the king was in a rage, everyone backed of, but no, he had to open his big mouth and pull a mountain down on his head. The king rounded him, but before he could open his mouth the herald announced that the search parties had returned. Turning the king took on look at the sergeant's face and knew Elaine had not been found.   
"Where is she!" Allen yelled at the top of his voice. Koran flinched and edged toward the door. The sergeant was doing the same thing. Unfortunately, he was walking backwards and ran into the wall. The king whirled at the sudden sound, ready to upbraid the unlucky officer when he noticed the map over his head. Directly above him was the blue circle of a lake, and in the center of that lake was that island they had never bothered to explore.   
"That's it!" he yelled, still at the top of his voice. "Get the troops together!" he called over his shoulder as he started towards the stables.   
"The troops! Whatever for?" Koran asked.   
"We're going exploring!"   
  
Elaine tied the boat up and started into the thick undergrowth with Falcon on her heels. Drawing her knife, she sliced at the vines and branches to clear a path. Forcing her way through step by step, she was soon exhausted. It was a relief when she finally came to a clearing. Dropping down on the thick moss, she leaned back against a tree trunk. Falcon lay down next to her, and in a few minutes they were both asleep.   
  
Elaine woke to the sound of Falcon growling. Sitting up, she gasped at the sudden pain in her head. After a moment it receded to a dull ache and she looked around for what Falcon was growling at. The young woman started back at the sight of the most horrid creature she had ever seen.   
It reared over her, a giant shape covered by black scales, blocking out the light of the full moon. Its long tail had two spikes that were even bigger than its claws and teeth, which were huge and sharp, glinting menacingly. The dragon's two black horns curved up on either side of it's gruesome face. With a scream like the dead, it swooped towards Elaine. Instantly she reacted.   
Drawing her dagger, she thrust it between two scales of the claws, outstretched to grab her. The monster did not even seem to feel it. It snapped the dagger like a twig. Falcon bit the dragon's hind leg. It did feel that. With a scream it lashed out, hurling the faithful creature into the trunk of a tree. The wolf lay still. Elaine cried out in pain and rage. She darted towards the wolf's body but the dragon reached her first. Grasping her in one talon it swooped into the air, carrying her up. Huge bat-like wings unfolded, beating the air and adding a foul scent. The acrid wind so putrid she could not stand it, and thankfully passed out.   
  
As the dragon carried her into the night, another figure was forcing his way through the treacherous undergrowth. King Allen slashed at the vines that blocked his path, finally breaking into the same clearing where the dragon had found his daughter only hours before.  
  
Elaine opened her eyes to darkness. Sitting up carefully she looked around, her eyes adjusting slowly.   
She was in a cell, wrist's bound behind her. There was no sign of Falcon. What little light there was filtered between the bars of the tiny window set high in the wall. The thick wood door was wrapped in strips of iron, and looked solid as a cliff face. The bonds on her wrists cut into the flesh. She tried standing up but did so to rapidly and stars exploded in her brain. With a groan she sank back down, eyes shut tight.   
When she opened them again the first thing she saw was him. Tall, black, and sinister, he stood a good head and shoulders above her. Clad in long black robes, his hair and beard were black as pitch.   
Raising his hand he muttered something, gesturing. Lights burst to life around the cell. Still muttering, he gestured again. The bonds fell of her wrists. She shivered, massaging her hands to get the feeling back. That had made her feel...ugh. She shivered again. The figure turned and left. Her head lifted. The door was ajar! However, before she could get to her feet her hopes, such as they were, were crushed. A small-thing-no more than dwarf size but thin, almost gangly, with tufts of hair sticking up all over him at odd angles entered with a tray.   
"Hello! Hello!" he called cheerfully. "Bring you food I did!" and with that he set the tray before her and plopped down with skinny legs folded and busied himself staring at her with avid interest. After a few minutes of this she couldn't stand it anymore.   
"Why are you staring at me?" she asked finally. The thin...thing continued his staring and gestured at her with one hand.   
"Pretty one! Prettiest of all!" he announced. Elaine looked at him, surprised. "Talk with Gurgy?" he asked hopefully.   
"Who?" she asked, still startled. For answer he jumped up and began to prance about, chanting;   
"Gurgy, Gurgy, me Gurgy!" After a few rounds of this he plopped down and resumed his staring. "Talk to Gurgy?" he said pleadingly. This could be my way out! She thought joyfully.   
"All right," she said agreeably, "talk to Gurgy." As it turned out, it was more a job of listening to Gurgy. And she listened. She learned that Gurgy was a human that he-that black figure seemed to have no name-had made small and furry to amuse him. She learned that the dragon was another twisted creation of him. She also learned that he wanted her for something. She pressed, but Gurgy apparently had no idea what it was. The hairy creature prattled on for a good hour when a gong echoed down the corridor. He cut off in the middle of a word and darted out. Elaine heard him fixing the bolt in place. With a sigh she laid back. Getting out of this could take a while.   
  
Meanwhile King Allen and his men had found Falcon's limp form, the broken dagger and the dragon prints. Fortunately Falcon was not dead, put the faithful creature had been badly hurt. One of the men found a tear off Elaine's gown. Her father was losing hope that she lived. Pressing deeper into the island they found nothing and turned back, only to discover that Ferguson had taken hold of the throne, claiming that both the king and Elaine were dead. The king and his men dared not leave the island, and so they were trapped as surely as Elaine was in her cell.   
  
Elaine awoke once more with a jolt of memory-and pain. As she slept a small knife hidden in her left boot had shifted and stabbed her. Quickly she bound the wound and sat waiting, the knife in her hand. After what seemed an eternity the door opened and Gurgy's fuzzy head poked through.   
"Pretty one, hello, hello. Talk with Gurgy?" He continued but the words were swallowed in a yelp as Elaine grabbed him by the collar and lifted him three feet off the ground.   
"Now, you're going to show me a way out of here and you're not going to make a peep. Right?" Gurgy nodded vigorously. "Good. Let's get moving." Gurgy led her down twisting corridors and steep stairs until they came to a great door. With frantic words the fuzzy captive told her that he was beyond, but it was the only way out. Elaine hefted him up so that his face was even with hers. "If you're lying to me..." she said, eyes narrow. Gurgy shook his head violently. Then the door burst open and he was there, flame flying from his hands. Elaine was thrown back against the wall. As she sank into blackness the last thing she was aware of was Gurgy shrieking that pretty one made him do it. Then all was dark.   
  
When Elaine's eyes opened she was bound again. The door opened and a guard entered. His eyes were glassy. He moved mechanically. Grabbing her arm he pulled her to her feet and dragged her from the cell into the corridor. When they reached the doors where she had been re-captured he opened them and shoved her ahead roughly ahead. The great oaken planks slammed behind her with an ominous crash. He stood within, but that was not what made her stare.   
Ferguson turned towards her with a nasty smile. Shock red hair standing in all directions, he looked villainous. Which he was, she reminded herself. Very much so.   
"What are you doing here?" she asked, proud of how she kept her voice smooth.   
"Just ensuring my way to the throne," he said with a sneer. "And giving you a chance."   
"A chance for what?" she demanded.   
"A chance to live. You see, I have total power over your life. The people already hail me as king. They think you're dead, but I can bring you back to life. For a price, of course," he added.   
"What price?" she said, eyes narrow.   
"If you steal something, you spend the rest of your life fighting to keep it. The people don't like me. Eventually they'll revolt, calling me usurper," he said, putting on a look of damaged dignity. "But, if I wed the legal heir to the throne..." he trailed of and looked at her. Elaine could only stare. Ferguson looked her over lewdly. "And," he added, "it would be a shame to put such beauty to waste." He reached a hand towards her and she jerked back against the iron grip of her guard. Ferguson laughed. "Besides," he said in an undertone, "why waste the effort of having my wizard get you alive? Handy, he is. It will be delightful when I destroy him." He said it softly, but the wizard heard.   
"Destroy me? Me? Master of darkness?" he said, voice that seemed to all present as the embodiment of evil. "There you deceive yourself. I will destroy you!" Blue fire sprang from his hands, enveloping Ferguson. Elaine opened her mouth in a wordless scream. Ferguson's shriek seemed to hang in the air, growing softer as though he had been yanked into an unimaginable distance.   
Elaine stared with wide eyes at where Ferguson had been. Turning her head she looked at him and was struck with horror. He spoke;  
"Now that he's out of the way, I can get on with my plan." He looked at her and chuckled, an awful sound. "And I do have plans for you."  
Elaine was dragged from the underground palace to a stone outcrop of a cliff face. The granite ledge under was covered by the golden leaves of bygone autumns. He shoved her toward it and began to chant, a hissing, menacing sound. Dizziness came over her, overwhelming. She sank down upon the leaves, clutching her head. Forcing her eyes open she saw him, but no longer a man, a serpent, a demon, more gruesome than the dragon he had created. She opened her mouth to scream but no sound came forth.   
Then something, so bright she could not look at it appeared. He screamed, dwindling, changing, shrinking, until he was nothing but a snake, slithering away. The dizziness and pain left her and she sank onto the leaves and closed her eyes for a hundred years or more.   
  
In Atlantis the people mourned the loss of their princess, not knowing what had become of her. Then the terror arrived. The back lash of the wizard's dark powers flashed and blazed in the sky. As the screams of her people answered the howling wind Atlantis was lost beneath the waves. Only Avalon remained, shielded by the shining deity that guarded the sleeping princess.   
When the sun rose all that could be seen was a lone island, waiting, and the black form of a dragon winging into the morning.   
  
Years passed, times changed, rulers came and went, yet the lost island remained the same, unchanged. And then, one day, humans once again found Avalon-it intrigued and frightened them, in ways they did not understand, and legends grew around it, until years later a son of the Celts came. He was the bravest of all, and so, alone, he made his way into the tangled wood. The forest had grown wild, and covered with vines, so it was hours before he reached the clearing where, on that fateful day so many years ago, the Princess Elaine had fought a dragon, and a king and his desperate men had remained trapped for time out of mind. But he knew none of this, and was therefore surprised when a path opened before him through a tangled mass of roses, blooming even in midwinter. He went where it led, and found himself looking down upon a woman, a woman of such marvelous beauty that it shone forth and around her, and from then on his heart was hers at surely as if she held it in her hands. One hand reached of it's own accord to touch her cheek, and Elaine opened her eyes and looked at this one who had come. She knew who he was, she knew she had been waiting for him. She also knew she had a purpose, a reason for being here-the shining gruardian had told her that.   
And so the Lost Princess of Atlantis reached out and took the hand of her future husband, ready to return with him to this new world she had woken to, ready fulfill the destiny allotted her. She felt sorrow, yes, for her father and her people, but she felt happiness to, for she loved the Celtic prince with all her heart, and the wild ways of his people.   
Years and decades passed, and people died, among them the Celtic husband of the princess, and she mourned him, but people were also born, and among them was her son, Merlin, and he eased the pain in her heart. And as he grew and learned, she told him who she was, and of the destinies they were both to fulfill; but that is a different story entirely. Perhaps it will be told to you, by the old woman who told it to me, but only if you are brave, and can find the way-for it lies in the hearts and minds of those special few who dare look for it. 


End file.
